Quality of life in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and the bendopnea symptom

Abstract

Purpose. The study of quality of life (QOL) in patients with CHF with preserved LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction) and a symp- tom of bendopnea with different levels of salt intake. Materials and methods. The study included 66 patients. The main symptoms of CHF were edema in 54.5% of cases, dyspnea in 77% of cases, ascites was detected in only 2 patients, an enlarged liver in 7 pa- tients. Abdominal obesity was detected in 53 patients. Quality of life was assessed by the SF-36 questionnaire, the level of salt in- take was assessed by the Charlton: SaltScreener questionnaire. Results. On average, the time of occurrence of the bendopnea was 22.5±9.3 seconds, the minimum was 5 seconds. The absence of the effect of abdominal obesity on the risk of bendopnea (relative risk 1.18 [0.76; 1.83]) was revealed. According to the SF-36 questionnaire, a decrease in physical health indicators (median 31.3 points [20.7; 42.3]) and psychological health (average score 43.2±21.7) was found. In patients with bendopnea, QOL was reduced due to both physical and mental health, unlike patients without bendopnea: physical functioning (Physical Functioning – PF) 24.8±16.1 against 47±28.9 points, p=0.001; role-based functioning due to physical condition (Role-Physical Functioning – RP), 0 [0; 25] vs. 37.5 [0; 100] points, p=0.008; general health (General Health – GH) 29.9±15.8 against 50±14.2 points, p=0.0005, social func- tioning (Social Functioning – SF) 56 ± 38 against 78.9 ± 17.8 points; p = 0.004. Multidimensional regression analysis revealed the relationship between the time of occurrence of the symptom bendopnea and the level of salt intake, physical and psychological activity (r2=0.25; p<0.009). The time of onset of the symptom of bendopnea in patients with CHF decompensation was significantly longer (18.9±8.7 vs. 26.2±8.5 seconds, p=0.003). The presence of diseases such as hypertension, COPD, IHD, atrial fibrillation, cerebrovascular disease did not significantly affect QOL (p> 0.05), while the presence of bronchial asthma or chronic kidney disease significantly reduced QOL of patients (p<0.05). Conclusion. The presence of the symptom bendopnea significantly reduces the quality of life of patients with CHF with preserved LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction).